Thinking it through
by Babelvr54
Summary: Steph grows up. Babe Story. I'm just going to see where it takes me. Please Review.
1. Chapter 1

Thinking it through

I was watching the sun sink into the azure depths as I thought about my life. My name is Stephanie Plum, bounty-hunter with a pitiful life. I broke up with my on-off cop boyfriend, Joe Morelli last week permanently and have yet to feel sad about it. It was long time coming. I finally admitted to myself that I am in love with my best friend/ mentor/ boss/ex-lover Ricardo Carlos Manoso. The sad part is that he probably doesn't return the sentiment.

The sky was now a rich, royal purple and the stars were peeking out. Whilst my love life was suffering my bank balance was not. The past month had been extremely busy from helping Ranger with a high-bond distraction job to capturing (accidentally) a high bond skip myself. I know – I get lucky. Then, last week I captured five medium bond low-life criminals. So needless to say I was sitting on a nice nest of 3 million dollars. Yeah, I know.

Now that I thought about my life – like actually thought about myself and no one else, I hadn't achieved anything in my life. I've always wanted to travel, fly but never had the time or the money. I want a house, an actual home instead of living hand-to-mouth, worse than a college student, I want people that actually care about me surrounding me. Now that I had a plan, all I had to do was apply the changes. Shit, that's the hard part.

It was starting to get cold, so I decided to go back to my hotel room and crash for the night; I'll deal with the rest of the world later.

XXXXXXXXX

The next morning came too quickly and my mini gateway had come to an end. Back to reality. I guess I need to tell Ranger that I love him. Damn. Shit. Okay you can do this Steph, you can be brave. Right and the Pope is gay. Okay not gonna happen. Maybe I can give hints. Like a treasure hunt or something. Yeah right, badass mercenary on a treasure hunt. Now that's funny.

I finally got out of bed and looked at the time, huh only seven, in the morning. I might as well get dressed. After my whole shower and dress ritual, I headed downstairs for breakfast. I found a nice coffee place and well I'm not about to list out my eating habits. All you need to know is that it was GOOD. I mean like almost better than sex kinda good. Almost.

XXXXXXXXX

The drive back to Trenton was quite scenic; I mean look at all those billboards, beautiful. I think I almost had a zone. Like Zen calm. Almost. Before I knew it I was in front of a building - the Rangeman building. Yeah, wonder how I got here. Should I go up? Um maybe no one will notice if I just casually turn my car around and ya know, go home.

My cell phone ringing brought me out of my internal debate. I looked at the caller. I'll give you one guess. Yeah you got it. Ranger.

"Yo" Original, I know

"Babe, are you going to come up or just sit there" Ohmigosh, he can speak more than one word at a time.

"Uh" Eloquent, that's me.

"Babe" Okay I get it.

"Fine, I'll come up" and then I hung up before he could. Mature is my middle name.

Hey, this is my first fanfic and well I'll only continue writing if I get enough reviews. I'm only fifteen so please don't expect sex or bad language. Please review, good or bad. Any suggestions are welcome.


	2. The Talk

The Talk

I parked my car in my usual spot and did my signature finger wave to the camera. Then dragged my feet to the elevator, hoping the elevator got stuck or maybe the earth could just open up and swallow me whole. Huh. No such luck. The elevator was working fine and mother earth was currently not listening to me.

The doors opened on five and I renewed dragging my feet. Suddenly my progress, which wasn't much came to a halt as I realised a wall was blocking my way, namely Tank.

"Hey big guy" I said with as much enthusiasm as I could muster. By the tone of my voiceI'm pretty sure I failed.

"You okay bomber?" he questioned

"Never been better. I just need to talk to Ranger. Is he in his office?"

"Yeah, he's got a pile of paperwork. He should be there." Wow. Long sentence. I'm pretty sure he used up all the words in his vocabulary. The smile on his face informed me that I'd spoken that thought aloud.

I shuffled through before I got myself in more trouble and headed for Ranger's office. Knocking gently, I heard a muffled 'enter'. I took a deep breath and stepped in.

"Babe"

"Ranger I need to talk to you… if you have time?" My hands were shaking at this point, but my voice held strong, surprising me.

He looked up and motioned me towards the guest chair. I took a deep breath and sat down. Pulling up energy from my reserves I started.

"Ranger… what are we?" He looked surprised at the question so I went on "I mean you've been my mentor, my friend, my lover, my boss. That's what you are to me. What am I to you?" My voice was carefully neutral through my speech, but my heart was racing.

"Babe, you are the same things to me" His eyes were searching my face looking for a clue as to what was going on. I think I had my blank face on. I'm _so_ proud of myself.

"Do you remember, after 'the deal' you told me that we'll be together _someday_" he nodded and was about to say something but I cut him off "I'm not very good with expressing my feelings using words, so please listen. I love you. I am in love with you. I have been since the day you walked in through my apartment door to save you daughter and me. I didn't say anything before because was afraid you didn't want the words. I need to know if you love me, if not;" I gulped "I'm going to move on with my life" I finally looked up.

His face was blank, completely blank. My heart was cracking more with every second that passed. I stood up, unable to bear the silence. I was about to walk out when I realised two mocha latte arms were hugging me from behind. I turned around in him arms to look up at his face, contrary to a minute ago, his face was now a myriad of emotions. His brown eyes were now moist and there was a smile on his lips.

Before I could analyse his face further, his lips crashed down on mine and his arms pulled me closer, until every part of my body was touching his.

He looked down at me with a huge grin on his face before whispering "Finally". I tried to pull away from him to glare at him, but he is stronger than on his worst day and judging by erection poking at me, today wasn't it.

"I just lay my heart on the line. The least you could do is repay the favour. A 'I love you too' would be nice" I retorted.

"I love you too, babe" he replied smiling and pulled me closer. His closeness was doing things to me. I couldn't think clearly as one of his hands was currently feeling my boobs up and the other was under my skirt.

Coming to my mind, I realised we were still in his office. "Ranger! We can't do this here!" I was stage whispering at this point.

"Carlos babe. Call me Carlos"

"Carrrlos" I tried, rolling it around my mouth. "Let's get out of here, Carlos"

"I love hearing you say my name, and you're right, we can't do this here. Not the first time anyway." At my look he continued "I have a long list of fantasies, Steph, handcuffing you to the shower rod is on the top, closely followed by you naked in my desk…" His voice was seductive and we needed to get out of this office fast.

"Carlos come on, let's get out of here" I pulled him toward the office door. He let me drag him out. As soon as I opened the door, the whole room burst into an applaud. I realised we'd been rather loud and the merry men were worse than gossiping old ladies. They were extremely nosey.

There were cat calls and shouts of 'Finally' through the room. The glare from Carlos was ignored as I was passed from one merry man to another. Lester, being the drama queen that he is, gave me a loud sloppy kiss and exclaimed "beautiful, you broke my heart. I thought you loved me. When you get tired of that old hag, come to me, I'll show you a real man."

I was pulled out of his arms by an angry Cuban with a loud "Santos! Mats, next week, Monday, 0600."

"Next week?" I questioned

"Babe, if you think I'm letting you out of bed before then, you're in for a big surprise. Plus I thought we both deserved a holiday. And well, I wanted to show you the batcave." The last part was more of a question than a statement. Batman was nervous. He's so cute.

My answer a long throaty kiss, that had more catcalls bombarded in our direction. With a "Back to work" to his men Carlos pulled me to the elevator. We held hands in the elevator. When the doors opened, he pulled me to his Porsche Turbo, opened the door for me and helped me in. He even did my seatbelt for me. Then with a soft lingering kiss shut the door. The turbo rumbled to life and we took off – to the batcave.

Please Review. Good or bad. Suggestions are welcome. If you want me to keep writing, you're going to have to reward me. I realised that I love reviews. They make me happy, keep me happy and I keep Steph happy. When Steph's happy, Ranger's happy. You get the deal – it's the circle of life. In short, REVIEW. Thank you


	3. Welcome to the Batcave

Welcome to the Batcave

The house in front of me was not what I'd expected when I thought of the batcave. It was grand, but not too large. The neighbours were not too close and well it was perfect. The garage door opened and the turbo slid in. There was a BMW x7 parked in the space next to us.

Carlos opened my door for me and held out his hand for support. Grasping his hand, I quickly slid out, taking in my surroundings. It was a two car garage, with the usual man cave stuff, ya know – tools kits and various unidentifiable torture instruments.

He opened the door to the house and led me inside, still holding onto my hand. The interior was warm and inviting, the walls were cream and with the sunlight flowing through the window, the room had a golden tint. It was surprisingly like any average home, with that I realised, I always thought of him as a superhero, never a man.

I let go of his hand and looked around the living room, it was comfortable with leather couches and posh with a lamp on the side-table next to the couch, which was facing a sixteen inch plasma tv. On the wall was a photo of us after a distraction job, his arm on my waist as I was leaning back. My red dress contrasting with his blue suite, the background had been blurred, giving the photo an intimacy. The most surprising thing was the emotion on both our faces, my eyes were filled with love and the emotion was returned by his.

We are both idiots, I turned around and moved over to where he was standing, analysing me analysing his home. I kissed him for all I was worth and well, it didn't take too much persuasion to move the party to the bedroom.

XXXXXXXXX

My grumbling stomach stopped us from yet another round of love-making, I was determined to ignore it, but Carlos stopped me "Babe, we have to feed that thing. Come on, we can continue this later, we have all week. Plus we need to talk." He laughed.

Uh oh, talking never leads to anything good, talking is the reason it took us three years to get where we currently are. In fact, I believe talking should be banned in this relationship. Resigned, I tried standing on my currently trembling legs, I was sore in places I didn't know muscles existed. Huh, should've paid more attention in bio. Carlos put on his boxers and went out, I hope in search for food.

I moved to the en-suite bathroom and stepped into the shower. Three words Oh My God. After the best shower I've ever had, I slipped on a robe and moved down stairs. Ok Steph, you are a grown woman, he is a grown man, and you are going to talk.

I have a deal for all you people. I've already written the next chapter, now I have 18 people following my story so – If I get at least 15 reviews today, I'll release the next chapter. Or else you are all going to have to wait until tomorrow. I love you all and thank you for those of you who've already reviewed my chapters. Thank you. Ps – the next chapter is 800 words.


	4. Things Revealed

Things revealed

Moving down stairs, I smelled a wonder aroma drift through. Pasta. I hurried down the rest of the steps and followed my nose to the kitchen. The scene there made my heart beat a little faster, okay imagine this - Adonis making pasta for you, in red silk boxers and nothing else, bare chested. I _know_. I'm a lucky woman.

I pulled out a chair and sat down next to the island in the kitchen. Carlos looked up and grinned at me, I think he can mind read. Or maybe he has a tracker on my thoughts – is that possible? If he did I'm pretty sure he'd be insane by now. My thoughts move faster than the speed of light.

"Carlos, I've been doing a bit of thinking and … well I've decided to quit bounty hunting" he froze.

"Babe? I thought you liked your job?" he questioned, then continued "Babe… you are a bit of a enigma to me…, the things I know about you are the same things that everyone else does, just the general knowledge. You call me mysterious, but really – you are the mystery. And you're really good at keeping secrets."

"What do you mean Carlos, what secrets?" I asked, playing innocent to what I knew he was referring to.

"You know exactly what I mean, babe"

"I do like my job, but I realised I've only been doing it to rebel against my mother. It's past time I grew up. I'm constantly in danger and you are constantly bleeding time, money and resources to save me." I put my hand up signalling him to let me finish. "I want to do something I actually enjoy. I um want to open a restaurant" he burst out laughing at that.

"Babe, you can't cook, the last time you tried you somehow managed to blow up the microwave..." he was laughing too hard to finish that sentence. He was on the floor with tears in his eyes from laughing too hard.

"Um Carlos, I lied about that, I can actually cook. In fact I'm a professional chef" He stopped laughing and looked up from where he was sitting on the floor with a shocked expression on his face.

I continued "I only cook for people I like and well I was with Joe then. If he tried my cooking, I'd probably be married popping out babies by now."

"Babe. You are really great at distraction, but that's not what I'm referring to." his face was now carefully blank.

"What exactly are you referring to here Carlos?" I queried.

"Here's a hint – New York." His voice was carefully neutral.

"It's a wonderful place, what about it?" I knew I was yanking his chain, but I couldn't help it. Old habits die hard.

"I just had a call from an old friend of mine about Michelle Ramos, I think you know her quite well, _Stephanie_" his voice had a dangerous quality to it now.

Time to weave a tale. Here it goes. "Can sit somewhere more comfortable?" he nodded and we moved to the living room. I sat on the couch facing the window and he took the recliner. I started my story.

"You guys know the basics about me, Joe took my virginity, and I ran him over, got married to Dickie and well, divorced him. Things happened in the middle that no one knows about… After the encounter with Joe, I ran away. I didn't have much money, but I was a smart kid. I can hack into almost anything. I made a few investments using another identity I'd made up. Every cent I'd earned was legal, except for the identity. I was sixteen, but I could dress to make myself look like I was 21. I moved to New York. The city was big enough to hide me, I didn't want to go back home." I stopped, looking out the window, remembering.

"All the while, I carefully added things here and there to my actual identity, so people wouldn't think I dropped off the face of the earth. I opened a restaurant, Michelle Diner, it's quite famous. Then I made the mistake of falling in love. He didn't love me, he loved my money. I'd told him everything about me. He knew everything." I had tears running down my face now; thank god I didn't put on mascara after my shower.

"I think he was involved in some gang. I don't know for sure. I think he got tired of trying to get me to trust him and …" Carlos stood up and pulled me into his lap. I went on "… he came home with a gun one day. He wanted me to transfer all my money into his account. I don't remember what happened next, but I somehow got hold of the gun and I, I shot him in the head."

"I called the police and they ruled it out as self-defence. I sold out the restaurant and moved back to Trenton. My mother pushed me to marry Dickie and you know how that ended. After that fiasco, I moved back to New York. This time I started a private dining. I'd be reserved for months. Cooking kept me sane. I did that for a couple of years and I got sick of cooking for other people, so I moved back. As Stephanie Plum I was broke, so well when I saw the ad for bounty hunting at Vinnie's I took the Job. This way I thought I would make real friends, people who actually cared about me, and I was right." I looked up to see his reaction. Please buy it.

"You are an amazing storyteller, try again." He stated.

How will Ranger react? Please review good or bad.

Wow, all you guys need is a bit of encouragement to review. Remember the circle of life – keep me happy and I'll keep them happy.

Btw, this chapter is about 1000 words, to compensate for the last one.

Private Dining – I wasn't sure how to phrase this, it's when you're really rich and you pay a chef a lot of money to eat amazing food and your family/date are the only people there.

Ps - Sorry about the cliffe.


	5. You think you know me

It's 11.30 at night and I can't sleep, so I am posting the next chapter now. I realised that some of you don't like the direction of the story, I'm sorry for that. I actually don't have a plot like I said in the summary, I'm just going with the flow. All suggestions are welcome, so if you see a plot tell me and I'll see it I can make it fit.

You think you know me

"Yeah, I didn't think you'd but that." I giggled.

He stood up and paced the length of the room. "What the hell is it? What are you? All my life I made it a rule to never let anyone into my life, and when I finally do, turns out she's not what she says she is." I think I broke batman. I'm pretty sure he was talking to himself.

"Are you sure you want to know the truth Ranger? I can't take anything back once it's out." If he wants to know that bad, then I am willing to tell him the truth.

"Yes! Please!" he ground out.

"Okay then listen, and please sit down." He sat down on the couch opposite to me. I started my speech looking him directly in the eye.

"When I was little, I'd always been a geek. Other girls were into barbie, I was into computers. I had friends who were also geeks. We taught each other how to hack into stuff, for me it was just luck. By fourteen, I could hack into anything." I looked up to see whether he was following so far. He nodded for me to go on.

"My parents never loved each other, I don't know why they got married in the first place. They never fought in front of us, but there was always this tension in the air. I'd spend as much time away from home as I could. It was just after my fourteenth birthday that I met Patrick Jordan." Ranger looked startled at the name; I just put up my hand to stop him from talking.

"We spent a lot of time together and well the rumour about Morelli being my first is not true, he's definitely not my first. I was fourteen and a half when we did it. My parents never knew about it. We were both in love with each other. He didn't live in the Burg so no one knew about us." I swallowed as I fondly remembered.

"Two years passed and the Morelli incident happened. Pat knew that I wouldn't willingly sleep with Joe. I actually thought he was going to kill Joe. That was when I came up with the plan to run away. I made both of us new identities and some fast cash." I swallowed past the lump in my throat and continued "We moved to New York. Pat always dreamed of joining the army and I didn't have a problem with that. He went away for two weeks for the trials and when he came back he was a different person. They accepted him not only into the army, but also into the Rangers." I looked up at Ranger to see a tear glistening in his eye.

"He kept on talking about these friends he'd made: Ricardo Carlos Manoso, Bobby Brown, Lester Santos and Pierre Thomas. In two weeks he had to go back for training, this time for two months. I cherished the time we were together and busied myself in learning new recipes for my restaurant when he was away."

"A year later, he'd already been through two missions and was preparing for his third. I had a really bad feeling about this one, turns out I was right – he never returned." I didn't look up this time I didn't want him to see the pain in my eyes.

"They gave me a report of his death, he died saving the four members of his team. They made it out uninjured. They didn't give names, but I knew."

"I moved back to Trenton, where my mother harped at me until I agreed to marry Dickie. The length of my marriage, I never slept with Dickie, I was so depressed I didn't do anything at all. It was actually relief to feel emotion when I say Dickie and Joyce together on the dining table. After that I thought it would be best to move back to New York and just get lost in the crowd. No such luck."

"I was shopping for grocery, when I saw you. You were exactly the way Pat described you, the strong silent type. You were calling someone and introduced yourself as Carlos. That day I went home and did some research on you and the rest of the team. You were just starting Rangeman. For a while I tracked your movements, how you spent your time, all four of you. When I say a job at Vinnie's I saw the perfect opening to get close to you."

"I wanted to get close to you because I needed to know whether Pat's sacrifice was worth it. What I saw did not make me happy. You guys lived life without actually living it. I wanted you to live." My tears were blurring my vision now, but I went on "Then I started getting close to you, I feel bad for saying this but I was only with Joe so I could stop you from getting too close. I felt guilty for loving you." I was sobbing completely by now.

Carlos came over and hugged me tightly to him, and spoke almost too soft to hear "He was a good soldier, babe."

I hope this is satisfactory. I don't know where I'm going to take this story next and I probably need to change the genre. I need suggestions. Please review.


	6. Discussions

Discussions

I was still sitting on Carlos's lap when there was an invasion of Men in Black. Ohmigosh Will Smith is _sooooooo_ hot. Carlos growled. I think I said the last part out loud.

Tank, Bobby and Lester all entered the room with blank faces, but I could still feel waves of anger rolling off the group. I stood up with a sigh, I was still in a robe and Carlos was also in his boxers. Maybe I could manage to pull Carlos to the bedroom for a quickie… What does this tell you about me? I am in a room full of angry men that are thrice my size and I'm thinking about sex. I am _so_ proud of myself right now.

"You can fill them in, I'm going to put some clothes on." He nodded.

I stepped into the bathroom and nearly screamed; my hair was afro. I quickly did some damage control and wrestled my hair into a ponytail. I put on an emerald green skirt and a black top. I put on light 'natural' makeup and some lip gloss and called myself ready. I decided to give the guys more time and checked my facebook and twitter accounts. Then on my iPad, I checked my mail. It had been fifteen minutes since I left, so I decided to head back downstairs.

The living room was eerily quiet as I stepped through the hallway. The guys all had their blank faces in place and arms crossed firmly against their chests. All the drama aside, they looked _hot_. Okay Steph, focus.

I took my seat next to Carlos "If you have any questions, you can ask now" I stated.

"Why didn't you tell us before?" this came from Bobby.

"You never asked before." I told them.

"Why didn't anything come up in the background search?" this was from Tank.

"There are a lot of things that don't come up in background searches." I stated.

"Steph was this some kind of a messed up version of revenge. Were you planning on killing us, destroying Rangeman…?" Lester finally spoke up, he'd been quiet the whole time.

I sighed. "Is that all you got out of my life Lester, revenge? No, life is too short to waste it on hatred. I came to you guys to teach you how to live. I didn't like the way you lived. I wanted to make Pat's sacrifice worth it." Lester's eyes were now misty.

I continued "But then I started getting closer to you guys, and I realised that you guys already did have a life, for you Bobby, it was your medical career, for Tank, your cats and Rangeman. The only person that really needed a life was Ranger. I swear to god Ranger when I first met you, you couldn't have been more boring." Tank, Bobby and Lester were now smiling.

"I guess I eventually got through the layers that make you, you. I was wrong you guys did have a life. You took excitement in your job. Every new case was like a new challenge. You had the loyalty and respect of your men."

There were a few more questions which I answered as honestly as I could and then my stomach rumbled loudly, breaking up our question session. Carlos laughed and went to the kitchen to warm up the Pasta.

Tank came up to me and hugged me tightly; Bobby pulled me out of his embrace and hugged me. Lester just stood there, looking at his shoes. I realised that this affected him the most. They were best friends and through the years Lester had become my best friend. I told him things I didn't even tell Ranger. Finding his friend's fiancé was now dating his cousin must've been hard.

I went over and stood in front of him and he finally looked up. "Did you love him?" he finally asked.

"More than my life Les, that day if I hadn't seen Ranger I wouldn't be alive. I had given up on my life. I went shopping for poison that day." I whispered. He finally hugged me and kissed my forehead then buried his head into my neck. Then I felt tears. Tank and Bobby had decided to give us space, so I pulled Lester to the closest bedroom.

We both sat down on the bed and the tears started again. Both of us this time. Les spoke up "After his death I tried to contact his family, I knew he was engaged, he spoke of you all the time but he called you Michelle. "

We sat there for a few more minutes embracing before my growling stomach voice its distaste at not being fed. We smiled and walked out. The guys left and I walked back to the kitchen to feed my hunger stomach.

I'm sorry I didn't update sooner. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for all your support. Some people have been asking me about my PM, I turned it on so you guys can now send me private messages.


	7. getting through

Getting through

Carlos was in the kitchen waiting for me. We sat quietly, me in his lap feeding each other. Finishing the meal, we did the dishes together. It reminded me of when Patrick and I. We would splash each other with warm water or stick some foam on my nose. We would talk about our day. I was moving on with my life, but I still loved him.

There were still nights where I couldn't bear the silence, I would remove all my trackers and go for a long drive to Point Pleasant. I would then watch the waves until dawn and then head back. Ranger is the polar opposite of Patrick, where Patrick was laughter and smiles, every emotion displayed on his tanned face, Ranger was silent, his presence was large, his emotions cautiously hidden behind a blank face.

Many times I've had the thought of running away and disappearing. I know how the Rangeman system works and I know how to hide my tracks, so carefully that they would wonder if I ever existed. Why did I want to run? – because I'm afraid. Afraid that he will die, I won't survive it this time.

"Babe" Carlos brought me out of my dark thoughts.

"How long have you known?" I asked

"Tank called me this morning. I've often wondered before though, it was just a feeling in my gut. At first I thought you were after my money, but you wouldn't accept half the things I gave you, the other half, I have to force on you. Then I just gave up thinking about it."

"Why didn't you tell me babe?"

"At first because I was trying to figure you out, then later on because I was in denial about my feelings, and then because I felt guilty about my feelings, and now because I felt stupid about hiding it from you all along." Hey don't judge me.

"Babe" he had that smile on, you know the one that says 'what would I ever do without you'. I'm in my bubble, don't pop it.

"You know I think we've done a lot of talking today. I think we should now do something more productive" I walked slowly toward him. I gave his bare chest a kiss. He grinned.

"You're insatiable."

"Says the Cuban sex god."

"Babe" he picked me up and ran for the stairs, throwing me over his shoulders like a sack of potatoes.

XXXXXXXXX

The rest of the week was spent sleeping, actually sleeping, eating, actually eating, talking and actually talking. I was actually excited to go back. I have a lot of money from back when I was Michelle Ramos. I am now going to use it.

I am also going to have to talk to the rest of the guys about … my life I guess; then last but not the least I need to chase down the person that ratted me out.

For chapter 6 I only had 3 reviews. So now a cliffe. Guess who ratted her out. Please review good or bad or you can just talk about the weather. But please talk.


	8. The ratter-out-er

The ratter-out-er

It only took about twenty minutes to get back to Trenton. My mood was now a roller coaster; I couldn't decide whether to be nervous, happy, excited or angry.

Carlos assessing my mood decided to come out of his Zen calm driving zone. I think he plans full scale invasions of third world countries, overthrowing the dictator of a country that doesn't even exist on the world map and rescuing damsels in distress like myself.

"Babe"

"What?"

"Stop acting so jittery." I think he sighed.

"I am not acting jittery. Wow I haven't used that word in ages."

"Babe. Why are you so nervous?" I don't know could it be the fact that my deepest, darkest secret just came out. And the person that ratted me out is gonna pay for it. I didn't express these thoughts out loud.

"I'm not nervous. I'm excited. And I'm bored. Talk to me." Distraction is what he pays me big bucks for.

"Steph" Uh oh. Serious convo, here I come. I don't like serious discussions, they are a waste of time and energy. Plus there is a better use of your tongue than talking. Damn I'm so good at distractions I can even distract myself.

"We haven't talked about living arrangements yet. I would like you to live with me. If you want we don't have to stay at the Penthouse on seven. We can look for a house closer or travel to work from _the Batcave_. Whatever you want babe, I don't want to force anything on you but I don't want to go back to living separately either." He was rambling now. It was cute, even adorable. Man if I didn't already love him, it would happen now.

"Carlos stop rambling. Yes I will move in with you on seven. We can discuss about getting a house later." I sighed. I already have a house in Trenton. I'm going to take him there on his birthday, which is two weeks away. With all the talking, thinking and rambling, I realised we were already in the Rangeman garage.

Carlos turned off the engine and came to the passenger door to help me out. We walked hand in hand to the elevator. We stopped at five to check in with the control room. Carlos went to his office and I headed over to my betrayer.

"Hola, mi amigo." I said (Hello, my friend) Hector had been my friend before I even met Patrick. He taught me how to hack, until I was better than him. There was nothing that could keep us out of any system we wanted to attack. He was already in a gang when we met. He saved me from being raped and for that I'll always be grateful. I knew that he only wants the best for me, but still it was my story to tell.

"Steph." Against what all of Rangeman believes, Hector is the most fluent person in the English language I've ever known. He could even be an English teacher.

"You ratted me out."

"I did not 'rat you out', I helped you out. I gave you an opportunity to talk. We both know that if I let you have your way, you would've never said anything." He was right, but that didn't make me any less angry.

Hector could always read me like an open book. There isn't a thing about me that he doesn't know. He stood up and gave a tight hug before I could push him away, and just like that all my anger melted away. He's the best friend anyone could ever ask for.

With a soft kiss on my forehead he whispered "Quideria, move on. He was your past and this is your present and future. Don't push it away. Comprende?"

"Si." I held on for a moment longer and then looked up and gave him a smile.

"Babe, if I was a lesser man I would be feeling threatened." Carlos spoke from the doorway with a smile.

"You even have Hector wrapped around your little pinkie." He elaborated

"Hombre, me ha tenido durante anos." (Man, she's had me for years.) Hector stated. Ranger laughed. Male bonding at its finest.

Ranger pulled me out of Hector's grasp and kissed me on the lips, tongue and all. Insecure my foot, more like marking territory.

"Soy gay recuerda?" (I'm gay remember?) Hector asked.

"Yeah I know." He then pulled me out of the cubicle and back to the elevator.

We stepped out on seven and Carlos unlocked the apartment door. I stepped in. The door shut and I was slammed up against it. Carlos started nibbling on my neck and moved towards my jaw. Surprised to feel the cool wood of the door, I realised my shirt was off. He unhooked my bra and played with my nipples, still kissing my lips feverishly. He then stepped away leaving me on the edge. Then with a growl picked me up bridal style and moved towards the bedroom.

[For all you sexually frustrated people out there, that's about as far as I'm willing to go with sex. ]

XXXXXXXXX

The next morning I woke up to Carlos playing with my hair. His naked body draped over mine, hid head in the crook of my neck and fingers in my hair, twirling my curls.

"Babe, do you want to move your stuff in today?" his voice was still husky from sleep

"Um no." I mumbled

"Babe? You don't want to move in…?" before I could speak he continued, "I knew it. You can't keep playing games with me Steph." Before he could move away I tightened my arms around his back.

"Shhh. Listen." I waited for his nod before speaking "I don't want to move my stuff in because I don't want any of the clothes I have in my apartment. I need a new wardrobe. Most of the clothes I have in my apartment are either ripped, stained or slutty. I don't have a decent pair of jeans. Plus all the furniture I own is useless."

"I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions." His was small. "I don't know why I'm so insecure. I just… don't know. I still can't believe that you are here with me. I keep thinking that this is all just a dream and I'll wake up to find out nothing really happened."

"It's okay Carlos. I know this past week has been very hectic on your emotions. It can't be easy with everything I unloaded on you."

"Steph I love you."

"I love you too Carlos. Now we need to get up, I have a closet to shop for." I was giddy with excitement. I haven't been able to shop properly for three years. You don't know how hard it is to have millions of dollars on your fingertips and not be able to use that money. The apartment I lived in was a dumpster. I have a nice five bedroom house with a heated swimming pool not even ten minutes from my apartment. Not that tests your control.

Since you guys were so nice and gave me lots of reviews. I'm giving you a happy Steph and Ranger. See the circle of life. So please review good or bad or talk to me about how you celebrated your last birthday. Anything please. You just saw my attempt at writing smut. I can't do it. I tried. Maybe I'll try again when I'm twenty. Okay I'm going to stop my rambling now. Have a nice day/night where ever you are.


	9. A bit of Pleasure

A bit of Pleasure

We took a shower together in an effort to conserve water. I was now eating my pancakes, they were dripping with syrup and Carlos was eating his healthy bran muffin. He asked me when I was going to tell my parents and the rest of the guys.

"I'm not going to tell my parents, they don't need to know about any of this. As for the rest of the guys, I don't think they need to know either. Plus I've been doing well in bounty hunting lately, so they can just assume that's how I earned all this money. Or they can think that I'm a kept woman." I ended waggling my eyes at him. Carlos laughed.

"Babe" he smiled. "Why don't you want to tell your parents?"

"It won't make a difference in their lives. When I came back home, my mother didn't care that I'd lost the love of my life, instead she kept harping at me about what the neighbours would think about me. She forced me into a marriage when I was in depression. She didn't ask me where I'd been or if I was okay. The only reason I tolerate her is because of grandma and dad. My mother is too engrossed in her own problems to care."

He frowned "Does your father know?"

"He knows bits and pieces. Carlos, he knows what he needs to know. You need to know this so please listen I won't elaborate on this but, you know how you go off to places unknown and cannot talk about stuff?" I asked he nodded.

"Well there are things about my past that I cannot talk to you about. Maybe some time in the future, things will be revealed, maybe not, I don't want you to think that I betrayed you, or that I don't trust you. If I didn't I wouldn't be here." He nodded once more.

"So what is your plan for today?" he asked changing the topic.

"I'm going to shop till I drop. And then eat till I burst. I have so much stuff to buy, I'm going to go measure your wardrobe to make sure I don't buy too much stuff."

The answer to that was a "Babe." Sometimes I think that he doesn't know how to express his thoughts. Imagine his mom questioning him : Carlos where were you last night? Answer – Mom. Carlos will you be home for dinner? Answer – Mom. Carlos I miss you. Answer – Mom. Yeah if I was his mommy I'd be so frustrated. Wow off topic here. The queen of distractions just distracted herself.

I bounced off my seat and put my plate in the sink. Then I flounced to the bedroom to get my purse. I'm going shopping. I'm going shopping. La la la lalala. I was so excited that I bumped into Carlos on my way out of the bedroom. "Babe, please take Lester with you today. He's been moping around the office, some time off will do him good." I nodded.

Going down to the control room I shouted "Les, you've got bombshell duty. Come on, we're going shopping." He came out of hiding; I took his hand and dragged him to the elevator.

Ten minutes later we were there. I spent the next five hours dragging him from one shop to another. Of course, I had to try on every outfit I liked. Lester sat in the 'husband' chair and gave me feedback on my outfit. When we got to Victoria's secret, his eyes were glazed over.

"Steph, please tell me you're going to model every outfit for me." He begged.

"In your dreams Les. But I will let you choose outfits for me." He looked like a kid that found out Santa wasn't real. Awww.

Two minutes into the shop, Lester had chosen about ten sets of underwear for me. I had to admit he does have a good taste. Half an hour we left the store with twenty sets of underwear.

We loaded all the bags into the turbo, which was a herculean effort all by itself, and set off to Rangeman. I was hungry, but I decided not to tempt fate by leaving all those bags in the car and have the car blow up. I was already emotionally attached to all my inventory.

At Rangeman, we saw tank getting out of his car, so being the great friend that he is, helped us get all the stuff to seven. Those muscled do come in handy. Wow. I opened the apartment and we dumped everything on the couch. My stomach was now growling. I realised, I'd been shopping for eight hours straight. Time flies when you're having fun.

"I'm starving. I need food. Let's go to pinos. Tank would you like to join us?" Tank nodded and we all set off.

XXXXXXXXX

We selected a table and a waitress came by. I already knew the menu off by heart and if there were any changes, Pino notifies me personally. I worked here as a waitress when I was fifteen, and we'd become friends.

I ordered a pizza and the guys ordered subs. Ten minutes later my food arrived, and with it came Morelli. Lovely, horrible end to a lovely day.

"Cupcake. What are you doing here with these thugs? You needed a break and I gave you one. Now get rid of those criminals and come home to me. We'll get married and you can look after our kids. Come on." This guy is an idiot Seriously. At least he dint say 'the boys missed you'. Steph you really need to think stuff through. What were you thinking, dating this idiot for three years. I mean cone on. Even his arse is hairy.

"Joe, please don't insult my friends. And leave. I will not be going back with you. We both had this discussion. You are not the right guy for me. Please leave." I stated as calmly as I could. I do not like people insulting my friends.

"You're coming with me." He stated. He then grabbed my wrist and pulled me towards the door. Lester and Tank immediately got up. Tank grabbed Morelli around his neck and growled "Let her go" Joe released my wrist. Man, Tank is like the Hulk when he's angry. Except instead of turning green, he turns darker. Tank dropped him.

"You are under arrest for assaulting an officer." Wow Idiot alert. This guy is dumber than I thought. I stepped forward and slapped Joe as hard as I could. Ya know what I said about guns and jail not being fun? Well I just changed my mind. I wanna stay in a lockup overnight. Oh god, good old days.

"Well _officer_, you are going to have to arrest me too then." I told him. Joe looked surprised and anger and well I don't care what else he looked like. Lester stepped in and slapped his other cheek. Ha. That was funny.

"Take me in too. It's been a while. I'm missing the food." Yuk. No I did not miss the food. Horrible does not even start to describe the taste.

I realised then that the whole of Pinos was silent. They were gaping at us. Gaping. Does that word sound funny to you? Steph! Focus. Okay.

Joe being the coward, idiotic, sadistic, stupid, brainless bastard that he is, loaded us into his crappy car. We arrived at the station and he threw us into lockup.

"Let me know when you decide to marry me, I'll let you out." Ha. Right keep dreaming. I decided to play with him a bit.

"Joe." I said, my voice seductive. "I need to tell you something." He grinned cockily.

"Coming to your mind now. There are rules you need to understand. First, you'll learn to cook. Second, you are going to quit your job and move in with me and third, you'll get pregnant."

"I…"

"keep going"

"I am never coming back to you." I told him with a smile. Lester and Tank burst out laughing. Joe glared.

"Lester you were right. This is fun. Even better than the last time I as in jail."

"You've been holding out on me. You gotta tell me." He grinned. Joe stomped away. Poor baby. I feel no sympathy.

"It was in college. Christine, my friend and I got really drunk. We decided that it was too hot to wear clothes, so we stripped. Some senior, old school cop was passing by and put us in lockup, overnight. Guess he wasn't into the nudity philosophy." Lester and Tank were both laughing, their hands clutching their bellies.

"So tell me about your sleepovers." I said looking over in their general direction.

Tank started. "I was about fourteen, I was a bad kid. My size freaked most people out. My hot wiring skills were excellent. Well me, Carlos and Lester decide to steal a cop car You know good for our rep. We stole the car, we were driving away when we heard a baby crying. Then the car filled with the disgusting smell of baby poo. We turned around back to the cop's house. Apparently, they were going out somewhere and well whatever. He put us in jail, overnight." He smiled at me.

"Oh man. That was so embarrassing." Lester chuckled.

"Steph, what are you doing here?" Eddie was standing at the door.

"Just hanging." I smiled at him. "Joe put me in for 'assaulting an officer'"

"Yeah, I heard about Pinos. It's all over town. I didn't think he was stupid enough to lock you up though."

"Nah. Apparantly he wants to get married and have babies. I don't. Each to their own."

"Did you want to make your one phone call?" Eddie asked.

"Nah. I'll do that in the morning. Been a while since I've been to jail. Just call Ranger for me and tell me that I'm fine and in prison. Tell him not to worry. I've got Lester and Tank with me." Eddie smiled and nodded.

An hour later, Carlos joined us.

"Babe." His eyes twinkled. The three of us smiled back at him.

This chapter is 1700 words. This is because of all those reviews I received. I love you all. Thank you to that Guest person who shared how they celebrated their birthday with me. Please tell me where you guys want me to go from here. I won't be able to update as often (back to school), but I do want to wrap this story up. Thank you to all those reviews.


	10. Tit for tat

Tit for tat.

The next morning dawned bright and early. I was snuggled into Carlos's shoulder. Lester's head was in my lap, sharing the space with Tank. Last night we'd stayed up late telling stories about our wild childhoods.

Turns out Bobby wanted to join us too, but Carlos stopped him. He's going to bond out today. My lawyer will be getting a phone call.

"Rise and shine sunshine." Eddie and Big Dog smiled opening the cell. We all got up and groaned.

"I'm too old for this shit." I informed the group. They nodded. I had a glitch in my neck. I rolled my neck on my shoulders to ease my muscles. Eddie motioned us out and we followed. Bobby was waiting for us outside with a huge smile on his face. Uh oh.

"The news of your arrest has hit the burg big time. Your mother has been calling Rangeman mercilessly. We had to block her to get her to stop." His grin widened.

"Don't worry. I'll take care of it. Do you have my phone?" he nodded.

"Give me a sec." I stepped aside from the group getting an eyebrow from Carlos. I just smiled back at him.

"Mark?" I asked the person on the other side of the phone.

"Yes?"

"Hi, its Steph. You know the files on the Morelli case? Send them to the mayor. ASAP." I ordered.

"No worries. Anything else?"

"Would you have dinner with me tomorrow? At 'Little Italy'?"

"Sure, it's a date. We can go dancing after. It's been a while since I've used my moves." I laughed.

"Okay handsome, see you then." I hung up.

XXXXXXXXX

After finishing up all the paperwork, we headed back to Rangeman. The guys were going stir crazy with my mother's insistent phone calls. I decided to give her a call.

She picked up on the first ring. "Stephanie Michelle Plum. The whole burg is buzzing with rumours about you. You stop…" I hung up.

My phone started ringing again. "Did you just…" I hung up.

It rang again. I spoke up this time "Shut up. " She shut up. I continued "if you are not willing to listen to me I will hang up. Say yes if you agree."

"What…" I hung up.

Taking a deep breath I picked it up when it rang again. The guys were all watching me. "Get it out. I'll listen. Then I'll knock some sense into you." She stated

"Helen. I'm filing to disown you as my mother. I've had enough of you. You will receive the papers by next week. What I do no longer concerns you. What you do no longer concerns me. If you proceed to contact me, I will file a restraining order against you. If you contact Rangeman I'll file a restraining order against you. Am I understood? Answer with a 'yes' or a 'no'. If the answer's no I'll file a restraining order against you anyway." I told her.

The guys were gaping at me like I'd grown two heads. "Yes." My ex-mother ground out. Wow. Is that even a word? I love being rich. You can do whatever you want to do.

I then hung up on her. Ha. Take that.

"Babe. I'm so proud of you. The Rangeman lawyer can take care of that stuff." He told me.

"No Carlos. My lawyer is already on it. I made this decision two weeks ago, before we even got together. I don't want anyone that doesn't love me for me around me." He looked stunned but nodded.

"Let's go upstairs babe. I need a shower and some food. You should feed the beast too, it's been growling for a while." He took my hand and we headed to the elevator.

XXXXXXXXX

After a shower and breakfast, I went back to the living room to sort through the purchases I'd made yesterday. I had literally bought out the mall. I even bought a few things for Carlos. He needs to learn the rest of the colour spectrum. I mean he does make black look good but ya know, the rest of the colour wheel is there too.

I made three piles. Every day, Office wear and going out. Carlos just shook his head at the amount of things I'd bought. He sat on the couch and watched me sort through. I gave him the clothes I'd bought for him. He raised that damned eyebrow at me.

"Babe"

"You need more colours in your wardrobe. Plus we'll be going out on dates. You can wear those shirts then." I told him.

He waggled his eyebrows at me "You gonna ask me out?" I laughed.

"How bout day after tomorrow?" I smiled at him.

"Why not tomorrow?" he questioned.

"Cause I have another date tomorrow." He frowned

"With my lawyer. I just need to sort out some things." He nodded but didn't ask. I think he assumed it was about my mother.

An hour later all the clothing was in its rightful place. Carlos had decided to go downstairs to check in with the control room and do some paperwork that was pending. I decided to grab another shower and go all the way this time. I lay out a royal purple knee length dress on the bed and pulled out matching jewellery to go with. I brought out my new black pumps and lay put them on the floor. I'm going to dress like I used to. My fashion had deteriorated through the past three years. It was time for me to get a handle back on my life.

I stepped into the bathroom, did my magic. Forty-five minutes later, a prettier version of myself stepped out of the bathroom. I slipped on my dress and shoes. I looked at myself in the full length mirror. I looked amazing. In front of me was a confident, self-assured woman.

I headed downstairs to greet the guys. The room was dead silent as I stepped off the elevator. You could hear a pin drop. Lester stepped out of his cubicle to see what was going on. He stopped in his tracks. "Holy shit." His mouth dropped.

Bobby came out of his office next. "Shit" I stepped past them to Carlos's office. I heard papers drop as I walked past the rest of the guys.

"Hey baby." I entered Carlos's office.

"babe" his eyes darkened. He stepped toward me prowling. A low growl echoed in his chest.

"You look amazing, sexy, hot, buoyant. I could go on all day. You should go shopping more often." He didn't even know what was under the dress yet.

"Carlos, I wanna have lunch." I peeked up through my lashes at him. He growled and picked me up bridal style.

"God woman. You are going to be the death of me. But what a way to go." He mumbled. The guys were still too shocked to say anything when they saw him carrying me to the elevator.

There you go. I got rid of Helen and Morelli. They won't be annoying our happy couple anytime soon. Thank you so much for your reviews. Btw can you guys not call me 'kid'? I'm too old for that title. Maybe try something else. I think in the next few chapters somewhere I'd like to bring in Julie. Thank you for the great ideas on how to continue my story. Keep reviewing and I'll keep writing. Love you all. Aren't you proud of me, I'm writing longer chapters. XOXO.


	11. Dinner, salsa and a Lexus

Dinner, salsa and a Lexus

After having lunch and then eating lunch, Carlos went back to his paperwork with a sigh.

"Don't wait up for dinner. I might be late." I told Carlos in the elevator.

"Where are you going babe?"

"I need a new car, I'm going to dump this one. I'm sick of it." She couldn't even tell the brand of the car it was that dirty.

"Okay. I love you." He told her.

"I love you too. Yay, car shopping. I'll finally get something decent."

I spent the rest of the evening at the car dealership, that Michael, a friend I'd made when I moved to Trenton, owned. He being the car expert, looked through every car, trying to find the one that would suite me. I didn't care as long as it drives and the seats are leather. Finally after two hours of listening about the car engines I was about to give up hope. And then I saw it. The perfect car… LX 570. The SUV was perfect for me – It had a 5.7 litre engine with 270kW of power. About $150 000 later, I had a car.

Michal said he'd take care of my POS, so I left the car and the keys with him. I drove the Lexus to my house and parked next to my Mercedes. It was a three car garage and well, another car will be filling the space soon. I'd bought Carlos a Maserati Ghibli, it will be delivered sometime tomorrow and Michael is going to drive it to my garage. I've given him enough business over the years, with being a bounty hunter.

I entered the house and immediately the smell of fresh lilies hit me. I'd told Grace, my house-keeper that I would be visiting today. Since I didn't live in the house, she only came once in a week and cleaned up the dust.

I walked to the kitchen to find it stocked. I looked in the freezer to find lasagne sheets. I took them out to defreeze them. I cut up vegetables and then worked on my sauce. Fifteen minutes later I was putting the lasagne into the oven.

My shoes were killing me so I went to the master bedroom and put on my flat sandals. I'd put the oven on low, so I decided to take a swim. I couldn't be bothered to go upstairs again to get my bikini, so I just stripped. Don't judge, no one was looking anyway. I set an alarm on my phone so I wouldn't swim through my house burning down.

An hour later I stepped out of the pool and wrapped myself into my robe. There was still some time before the lasagne was done so I dressed up again, blow drying my hair and putting it up in a neat bun. By the time I got back downstairs, the rich aroma of the lasagne had filled the kitchen. Pulling on my gloves, I removed the tray from the oven. I cut myself a piece and took my plate to the porch.

The sun was setting and the sky was blushing a soft pink, as the sun sunk deeper, the colour changed to a glowing orange-gold, then into a rich royal purple, and then the sun was gone encased by the stars as night fell.

I thought about how far I'd come. I liked being surrounded by people that cared about me. I liked living with Carlos. I knew I had moved on with my life. I was sure of my future. I already knew that Carlos's contract with the government was over. I'd read that in his file. I was just waiting for him to tell me himself.

I took my plate to the sink, rinsing and washing it. I then pulled out a bottle of white wine and poured myself a glass. I set it on the counter, to let it breathe, while I packed the lasagne away. I took my, glass, holding it by the stem to not warm the wine. I turned on the TV, watching some mindless cartoon.

Swirling the wine in my glass, I was enthralled as I saw the light reflect. I took a sip, tasting the grape. I spent three years living like a person with no sense, manners or class. I used dissolute language. I am not a snobby rich girl with too much self-importance, but I took pride in my language and clothing.

Though for anything in the world, I would not change anything about the last three years. I'd met genuine people that were blunt about their opinions. I'd met crazies and stalkers that were inconspicuous, and I'd made friends that were real. I was the only pretentious person. I did not pretend about the emotions, but I did pretend about myself.

Finishing my wine I stood up, picked up my handbag and headed toward Rangeman.

XXXXXXXXX

The next morning came too soon. Carlos had gotten up at five to go to the gym. He was now in the shower getting ready for work. I decided to conserve water and joined him.

After breakfast, he asked me about my car search.

"Didn't you see it?" I asked him. I thought he'd have already seen it through the security cameras. "Come on I'll show you." We headed down to the garage. The doors opened on five and Bobby, Tank and Lester joined us.

Four chins hit the floor as the doors opened. Men. They each walked to the car and stared at it for a second, then walked around it.

"Babe." I took that as approval.

"You guys want to take a drive?" I handed the keys to Carlos. He looked like a kid in a candy store and ran to the driver's side. The other three got in with the same enthusiasm.

XXXXXXXXX

It was lunch time, and my car still hadn't returned from its drive. Men. I had been searching for a place for my restaurant. I still hadn't found the site. I decided to talk to Carlos for his expert opinion. I headed upstairs for lunch. Half an hour later Carlos, Tank, Bobby and Lester joined me.

"Have a nice drive boys?" they nodded.

"We all took turns. That car is a babe." Lester told me. I laughed. Men.

XXXXXXXXX

After lunch, I headed to the bonds office. I hadn't seen the girls in ages. I had on a black flowey skirt that came up to my knees and a peach halter top. I put on peach inch long heels.

The girls were peeking through the window as my car stopped. They gasped as I stepped out of the car.

"White girl, whatcha doing in that baby?" Lula asked.

"It's mine." I smiled

"Batman buying you stuff?" I just smiled.

"How's it going with you and Tank?" I asked directing attention away from me.

"We ain't together no more." Lula answered sadly.

"Why not?"

"I think it's because I'm fat. Look at me, every guy wants you, you're beautiful, you're slim, you're smart…" her voice was so small my heart broke for her. Then I had an idea.

"Lula, do you like bounty hunting?" She nodded. Perfect.

"How about I get you training. We can tone you up, teach you the stuff, you'd look better than Jeanne Ellen."

"Where would I get the training? How would I pay for it?" she asked.

"Don't worry about anything else. I'll get back to you tomorrow. Okay. And Lula?" she looked up "You're beautiful as you are, you are strong, stronger than anyone I know. You've been through some tough situations that would've made anyone give up. But you didn't. You are strong willed, you can do anything you set your mind to. Okay?" She smiled and pulled me into a hug.

I knew that the only reason Tank was pushing Lula away, was his government contract. But if he could see that she was strong and could look after herself, he might reconsider. I didn't want them wasting time like Carlos and I.

XXXXXXXXX

It was time for my appointment by the time I said goodbye to the girls. I met Mark at the diner, he was waiting in the lobby. I went up to him and pulled him into a hug. We were shown to our reserved seats. We each ordered our meals and caught up on each other's lives.

"I mailed the Morelli file to the mayor. It was unanimous, so whatever happens will be quiet." He told me. I sighed. Joe was a major pain in the butt.

"Helen's paperwork?" I questioned. He pulled out a file from his coat and slid it over to me. I signed the appropriate places and handed it back to him.

"I'll send it to her tomorrow. The court already gave permission." Thank god. Another chapter in my life over.

Our dinner came, and we spent the rest of the meal doing small talk.

XXXXXXXXX

"Come on, there's a new club that opened last month. It's called 'Rapture'. I've been wanting to try it out. Mark had a hard time going out because of his job. Being a lawyer pays good money, but the hours suck.

We drove to the club in our separate vehicles. The bouncer, seeing my car let us skip the line. The inside was packed with bodies gyrating and shaking. We found a table. I ordered tequila shots, and Mark ordered a long Island drink, they sneak up on you.

After three shots, I headed to the dance floor, immediately finding a willing partner. We danced for a song. Mark joined me for the next song; it was a fast paced salsa number. He spun me around like the expert that he is. We danced to five more before I felt a tingle up my spine.

Hey people, thank you for all the reviews. But could you please make them a bit longer. If I can write a 1600 word chapter, you can write at least a 20 word review. I am sorry about not warning you about the Helen bashing in the previous chapter. My fingers have their own mind. They don't listen to me. And no one offended me, please I'm not that sensitive. You can call me anything as long as you're not mean.

ps you should look up those cars. They are hot. I'm a girl but these cars look amazing. I googled it.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter.


	12. Tipsy Turvy

Tipsy Turvy.

I looked around the room, searching for Carlos, when I saw him stumble through the entrance of the club. Behind him were Tank, Bobby and Lester. Carlos looked around the room, his eyes meeting mine. His eyes grew bigger and a big cheesy grin came across his face. He stopped walking and the guys bumped into him.

Mark realised that he'd lost my attention, and diverted his gaze towards where I was looking.

"Is that Romeo?" he asked. I snorted at the mental image of Ranger at my balcony singing love sonnets.

"Yup. That's him." I replied still looking at Carlos who was now crossing the room toward me.

"Babe." He pulled me away from Mark and hugged me.

"What are you guys doing here?"

"We gooot kiked out of the ottter club. Lester said thes place es nice." He slurred, the big grin still adorning his face.

"Es is my baaabe." He announced to Mark, hugging me tighter to him.

"Carlos, that's my lawyer and friend, Mark. Mark this is um Carlos." I introduced them. I didn't know what to call Carlos. Boyfriend is too high school, partner sounds weird.

"Babe, weee are getting mared. But itsa secret. I'm supposta ask you tonight." He told. Yup he's drunk. The guys were just standing beside him grinning like idiots.

"Tank are you guys drunk?" I asked, still in an embrace with Carlos. He wouldn't let me go.

"Nah, we onlee had a little." Holding his index finger and thumb an inch apart. I decided to break up the party and head home.

"Mark, I'll see you later. I'm going to take these guys home now before they crash." He nodded smiling and walked away.

"Guys, time to head home." Carlos had finally let me go and was currently resting his head on my shoulder.

"Nooo. Butiful, we gonna party. Cause you guys are gettin married. And I'm the bridesmaid. Come on we need a ring." He told me pulling my hand.

Carlos, looking all proud of himself, reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring. "Babe. I have a ring. We can gat murried! Come on." Now he too was trying to pull me out the door. Trying being the key word. They could barely hold themselves up.

I sighed. I just had a drunk proposal. Great. Every woman's dream. I walked toward the exit and they followed. I stuffed them into their SUV and called Rangeman.

"Manny, could you and someone else come over to the new club, Rapture and get my Lexus please?" Manny agreed and ten minutes later, Cal and Manny were having an argument about who gets to drive the Lexus.

"Guys!" they looked at me. "How about we toss a coin?" They nodded. I pulled a coin out of my purse. "Cal you're heads and Manny you are tails." They nodded again.

It was heads. Manny sulked back to his Rangeman SUV and Cal was doing a happy dance back to the Lexus. I shook my head. Men.

I got into the driver's seat and we drove off to Rangeman while the guys were discussing the chicken and the egg. Don't ask me how they got to that topic. It was about to get violent when we drove into the Rangeman garage.

The guys stumbled out and shuffled to the elevators. We dropped off Tank, Bobby and Lester on their respective floors and then headed off to seven.

"Babe. I luuuv you." He told me laying a sloppy kiss on my cheek. He pulled me towards the bedroom, lay me on the bed, lay himself down beside me and promptly passed out.

XXXXXXXXX

The shrill of my phone woke me up the next morning. "Lo?" I asked, my voice still sleepy.

"Stephanie, did you really disown your mother?" Mary Lou asked

"Yeah Mare. The woman's been a bitch to me since the day I was born. Now I wanna sleep. Talk to you later." I hung up on her. I switched my phone off, chucked it out of reach and snuggled back into Carlos.

XXXXXXXXX

It was nine when I woke up again. Carlos was still asleep next to me. Damn, he can actually sleep in. Since I knew that him, and the rest of the guys were going to have a bad hangover, I decided to order 'the cure'.

Deciding to greet the day ahead of me, I started brewing my coffee. I only had a tinsy wincy head ache since I didn't drink much. I drank my coffee and took a mug to the bedroom for Carlos. I set it on the nightstand when I heard a knock. I took 'the cure' to the bedroom just as Carlos woke up.

"Morning sleeping beauty." I greeted.

"Not so loud." he mumbled, hiding his head under the pillow.

"I have the cure." I whispered. He held his hand out in my general direction. I gave him the fries and set the coke down next to the coffee.

He turned around and sat up before taking a tentative bite of a fry.

Two minutes later, the fries were gone and he was working on the coke.

XXXXXXXXX

"Babe. I'm going to go down and get some work done. It's ten thirty, I should be back before dinner. Call me if you need anything." I nodded.

After he left, I decided to call Hank. He is an ex-military seal. He had to quit because his back started giving him problems. He was my neighbour in New York and we were now really good friends.

"Hello." I heard

"Hank, it's me Michelle."

"Hey angel, it's been a while. How are you?"

"I am fine. Been doing things, you know me, can't sit still for a second."

"So is this a social call or do you need something?" he was never one to beat around the bush.

"I need a favour."

"I'm listening."

"I have a friend, Lula. She wants training. She's slightly on the plus side but she's determined. Would you be able to help her?"

"I have two conditions." Shit. Why do people ruin perfectly goo conversations with terms and conditions?

"And what are they?" I questioned

"Number one: I decide her training, or if I'm going to train her. If she's as determined as you say she is then there will be no problem. But if she's some wannabe then I refuse to train her." Fair enough.

"Okay and number two?"

"You come for dinner. I haven't seen you in so long. Do you have a boyfriend? Bring him too. I want you at my doorstep in two weeks. Have you been eating properly? You're probably a twig by now. You don't eat enough."

"Hank!"

"Don't use that tone on me. I'm older than you."

"Only by two years."

"Still older."

"So you will look at her? I'll bring her with me when I come for dinner."

"Yes I'll train her. You are going to stay here in my house alright?"

"Yes _dad_."

"I miss you. I can't wait to see you okay? Love you angel." Suddenly he sounded much older.

"Love you too Hank."


	13. Block on the road

Block on the road

I slipped into an amber dress for my date with Carlos. We were going to a nice restaurant just outside of Trenton. Half an hour later, I was ready. Carlos had come in ten minutes ago while I was doing my make-up and was currently waiting for me in the living room. I decided to tell him about Hank tonight.

XXXXXXXXX

Through the meal he seemed nervous, checking the time or just rambling. The next thing he said put everything into perspective.

"Do you ever want to get married again?"

"I don't know. Maybe. I think marriage kind of kills the romance. There's no more mystery. You get sick of each other. Plus there are too many expectations. I wouldn't mind getting married but to my own conditions. I'm not the ideal woman for a traditional marriage. And I don't want babies anytime soon." I needed to be clear. I didn't tell him this to break his heart.

"Babe, I not a traditional guy either. If we were to get married we would do what suites us. I wouldn't expect you to stay at home, get pregnant and cook me dinner. We would play by our own rules."

"What about kids? Do you want any?"

"I want to enjoy as much time I can get with you. I don't really want any more kids, but if it happened I'd still be okay… So would you marry me?"

"Is that a proposal Carlos?" he growled.

"You are not going to make this easy for me are you?" I laughed and shook my head.

He then pushed his seat backwards, stood up and bent down on his knee and pulled out a ring from his pocket.

"Stephanie Plum, would you please do me the honour of becoming my wife? I have loved you since the first time I saw you. I want to spend the rest of my life showing you how much. Will you marry me?" his hand was shaking and his voice was trembling.

I looked into his eyes, not sure what I was looking for. I saw his love for me, all the emotions clearly on display. My doubts were fading away yet there was still a thought niggling at the back of my mind. He doesn't know me. He only knows what I've shown him. He needs to know.

"Carlos would you first come with me somewhere? After you know everything, if you still want to marry me, I'll gladly become your wife. If you don't I'll understand."

XXXXXXXXX

The drive back to my house was silent, our breathing was the only noise. His blank face had slammed down since the moment I spoke those words. The emotion was sucked out of his coconut brown eyes, replaced with a coldness I'd never seen. He was protecting himself from me.

We finally reached my house. I was going to tell him everything on his birthday, but I guess now is a good time. His car had been delivered three days ago. Early birthday present I guess.

We entered the house, the sweet aroma of roses attacking my senses. I walked through the house, to my bedroom. His footsteps were silent as he followed; the tension was as thick as a cheesecake. I opened the safe, where all my files, my innermost secrets resided. I took out a folder and handed it to him.

He settled down in the recliner in the corner of my bedroom and began his reading. The folder held everything about me. Every single detail, from running away to coming back home. Losing a baby, the first ultrasound picture, some things I searched, incriminating information on huge organisations, incriminating information on the government…

I couldn't take the tense atmosphere of the room so I decided to take a swim. I stepped out of my heels and carelessly toed them out of my way. I stripped, stepping down the stairs. I dived into the pool completely naked and swam. I don't know for how long.

XXXXXXXXX

Carlos was waiting for me in the living room when I stepped in with my bath robe on. He stood up and walked towards me, immediately pulling me into a hug.

"I still love you." I looked into his eyes and found them shining with tears. One dripped down, landing on my chest. I leaned up and kissed him. He pulled the ring back out and picked up my left hand, raising an eyebrow. I smiled and he slid the ring home.

XXXXXXXXX

I wasn't joking when I said that we are untraditional. Every other couple would spend the night 'celebrating' or calling their family and friends. We just talked. We talked about the future, the past, the present and everything in between. I told him about Hank and Lula and my restaurant. He told me about his clients, Rangeman, family. We snuggled into each other contented and fell asleep.

The next morning I decided to surprise Carlos with an engagement present. I slipped out of bed, completing my morning ritual and then woke Carlos. He was ready to tackle me to bed, but I showed some restraint and pointed him to the bathroom. Ten minutes later, he was ready to face the day.

"Come on. I have something for you."

"Babe, you don't need to get me anything. I already have everything I could ever want."

"Yeah, well if you don't want it I can always return it." I told him.

Leading him to the garage, I showed him to the car. It took him a moment to realise what it was. His eyes grew huge and I thought they were about to pop. He didn't say anything, just stared.

"It you don't want it, I give it to Lester." That snapped him out of it.

"Over my dead body!" He walked over to me and gave me a deep kiss. I handed him the keys and well, the rest as they say is history.

XXXXXXXXX

Three hours later, we rolled into Rangeman. By the time we parked the car, the whole company was in the garage. Men.

I slipped out of the car and headed for the stairs, it's going to be a while till I see Carlos again. Boys with their toys. I rolled my eyes.


	14. A lunch to remember

A lunch to remember

I decided to give Lula a call to tell her that we will be heading over to New York in two weeks. We also needed to do some shopping, the clothes she had would not be acceptable with Hank and she also needed to know the rules.

After that I decided to head over to my house and make lunch for the guys. I know that they're going to be a while, but I have a surprise for them too.

" Hey Lula."

"Hey Steph. What's up?"

"We are going to New York in two weeks."

"Shit. Ohmigosh, the big apple…why?" She sounded excited.

"But we're going to have to go shop before that, you need a new wardrobe."

"Oh yeah I can't wait. Does this have anything to do with my training?" Nah, just everything.

"Yes it does. I'll tell you about it later. I have to go now."

"Okay, see ya." We hung up.

After that I looked up a few eligible places for my restaurant that my Real Estate agent had sent me. And then it happened, the perfect place, like _the_ place. It was near the edge of Trenton. The view was perfect, with heaps of parking space. It even had an apartment above it. The place would afford luxury and elegance. It was perfect. I decided to give my agent a call.

"I want it."

He laughed. "I thought so too. I assume you are talking about the last place on the page?"

"Yeah. I want it. It's mine. Fax me the papers to my home address, I'll sign them." I told him

"Calm down Steph, you'll have to wait until tomorrow. I need to talk to the agency yet. I'll send them to you as soon as I get them. Okay?"

"Fine. K, I'll see you later."

"Bye Steph."

I played on my IPad, fed my sims, checked my mail, facebook and twitter accounts. My grumbly stomach asked me for food so I headed home to cook a meal for the guys and myself.

XXXXXXXXX

I decided to go Indian and made spicy Indian curry with an Indian cheese. I made Nan bread and deep fried rice. Then I made some spinach-cheese balls, varnished in garlic powder. Looking at all the food I decided that I needed something sweet to go with so I made some decadent chocolate mousse. Then I thought about Carlos and made Salad, without lettuce because I don't like lettuce. It's icky.

I was setting up the table when there was a knock on the front door. I opened it to be embraced by four men in black.

"Beautiful that was awesome. That car is pure sex. Man, Carlos you are one lucky bastard." Lester told me kissing my forehead.

"Babe, something smells good. What is it?"

"Lunch, come on I was just setting the table."

"Little girl, I trust you with my life, but food is pushing it. Are you sure it's edible?" Tank asked.

"Come on, just for that you get to do the dishes." Tank groaned.

They headed to the dining table. Carlos set the dishes on the table and I brought out the rest of the food. The guys dug in as soon as everyone was served.

"Ohhh this is amazing!' Lester exclaimed before stuffing his mouth with more food.

"Marry me! Please!" This was from Bobby.

"No! She's mine. I love you Steph, ditch that idiot friend of mine and run away with me." This was from Tank around the food in his mouth. I giggled. Carlos growled.

"Too late, she's marrying me." Everyone stopped eating and looked at the engagement ring on my left hand.

"Beautiful, it's not too late. We can run away and get married, just say the word." Lester waggled his eyebrow a huge grin splitting his face.

"Nah, I think I'm fine." I told them, lightly kissing Carlos on the cheek. He wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled my chair closer to his.

XXXXXXXXX

After dinner the guys helped me clean up. I caught Tank in the kitchen as he was loading the dishwasher.

"Tank we need to talk about Lula." He nodded.

"Do you love her?" I asked. I needed to know this before I gave him any more information.

"I do love her Steph, but she can never fit into my life. The guys wouldn't accept her. Everything would be fine if I wasn't so broken. We're both broken Steph and you can't put two broken people together, it only leads to hear ache. She needs a better man. A whole man. She deserves a good life. My life is too dangerous. There is a chance on any given day that I could die. I don't want to put her through that…"

"When will you men get it through your thick heads that it doesn't matter? We'd rather spend a day with you than a lifetime without you. At least in our hearts we'd have the peace that we tried. Trying and failing is better than failing to try."

"I can't Steph. I can't do that."

"Well then give her a chance to recover. Don't go near her, don't see her, and don't think about her. You're right she deserves better that a man without any courage." With that I left the kitchen. Men are idiots.

XXXXXXXXX

"Babe are you okay?" Carlos asked sensing my mood.

"Nothing. Men are dumb, stupid cowards when it comes to relationships. That's all."

"Ugh." Hah. Batman is speechless. So is the rest of the Justice League.

Tank came out of the kitchen sulking, so I decided to give them their presents.

"Guys, come with me."

I took them to the garage where their presents were waiting for them. There, neatly lined up were four Ducati Monsters. They were each in different colours with their keys hanging on the handle-bar and a matching helmet on the seat.

The guys just stood there staring. "I bags the red one" Lester shouted, breaking the silence.

"I take the Black one" This was from guess who. You got it - Carlos.

Tank took the blue on and Bobby took the yellow. "Babe, wanna go for a ride?" I nodded, pulling out a black helmet from the storage.

Then we took off. Tank, Bobby and Lester were racing each other, Carlos pulled over half-way and made me sit up front, facing him. Best bike ride ever.

Tell me what you want next. Please review


	15. Meetings and greetings

Meetings and greetings

Before I knew it, it was time to head over to New York. Lula and I had hit the malls last week, looking for suitable outfits for her. A thousand dollars later we went home to sort through the clothes.

We now had two hours before we needed to head over to the airport and Carlos was having a nervous break-down.

"Carlos it's okay calm down."

"Babe, it's not okay. I can't find my button down grey oxford shirt. I need it." I went over to him hugging him from behind, I kissed his back.

I took his hand and led him to the bed. "Tell me." I prodded.

"I'm nervous." He sighed.

"Why?"

"Because…because he's important to you. You've been talking about him non-stop for the past week." I took his hand in mine. He looked down. "He has history with you that I don't have." He finished.

Oh. Batman's jealous. I leaned into him till I was in his lap. He wrapped his arms around me, nuzzling my neck.. "Carlos, Hank is like a big brother to me. He's more of a father to me than a love interest. I love him but not in that way okay?" I tipped his chin up till he was looking at me. "I'm in love with you. In fact, I was hoping we could get married in New York. I want Hank to stand up for me." He just pulled me closer and held me to him.

"I'm okay with whatever you want babe, as long as you're happy."

"I'm happy when I'm with you." I answered back. He smiled.

XXXXXXXXX

We met Lula at the airport. She was dressed nicely in a conservative dress that went past her knees. She also had a red suitcase next to her. Carlos and I were only staying there for three days so we only had a small suite case for all our stuff.

We headed to the waiting area just as our flight was called. Our seats were in first class. I wanted to book a seat so that all three of us would sit together, but Lula convinced me to book her seat away from us. Apparently we needed more 'us' time.

The flight was fairly quiet and we landed in one piece. Hank was waiting for us at the airport. I ran over to him as soon as I saw him, launching myself into his arms. He caught me, twirling me around before kissing my cheek and landing me back on my feet. He kept an arm around me.

Carlos and Lula headed over to us with the luggage.

"Hank this is my fiancé, Carlos. And this is my friend and your student, Lula. Lula, Carlos, this is my dearest friend Hank." Lula smiled and Hank smiled back. Carlos and Hank shook hands, then Carlos pulled me back into his arms laying a light kiss on my lips before glaring lightly at Hank. Hank glared back.

The ride back was tense. Lula was sitting in the passenger seat. Carlos had pulled me to the back seat and was currently gripping my hand like a lifeline. I pulled his arm around me and lay me head on his shoulder. He relaxed slightly. Before long the lull of the engine and the noise that is New York had put me to sleep.

XXXXXXXXX

I woke up as the car stopped. I went to undo my seatbelt but Carlos beat me to it. He then picked me up and walked to the house. I heard him talk to someone about 'where's the bed' and someone answered back, but I was already asleep by then.

I'm sorry I haven't updated much, so I'm compensating by giving you two chapters. Please review. Give me leads.

Ps – I know that some of you are expecting this story to have more Morelli and Helen bashing. I'm sorry but I only did that to get them out of the way. I don't think they will come up again anywhere in this story. I just can't be mean.

Please give me ideas; I'm trying to wrap this story up in the next couple of chapters. I don't know how, I don't know when.


	16. The end?

The end?

I woke up the next morning with Carlos on top of me, his leg entwined with mine, one hand on my breast and the on the back of my thigh, close to promise land and we were both naked. His breathing was still even, his breath nuzzling my neck.

I let my hands, which were resting on his back, wander noticing the diamond of my ring catching the light. I still can't believe how fast my life had moved. I am the luckiest woman alive, I have had two men completely in love with me, the most loyal friends and everything I'd ever need at my fingertips.

I sighed as I realised where I was. I was supposed to talk to Hank last night. Plus I didn't want Lula to freak. I did remember Carlos tucking me into bed and joining me later, I don't know how much later though.

I had a few more deep thoughts but nature was calling so I tried to figure out a way to slip out of Carlos's grasp without waking him. I moved the hand that was now between my thighs, very close to promise land, then moved the hand on my breast. I was about to move out from under when his breathing changed.

"Babe" his arms went around me again. He leaned down to kiss my forehead.

"Carlos let me go."

"Never" I rolled my eyes.

"I need to go pee." He let go, giving me a chaste kiss on my lips before rolling off me.

After taking care of nature, I decided to get ready for the day. After brushing my teeth I hopped into the shower. I had just adjusted the water, when the sliding doors opened and a chiselled body joined me.

XXXXXXXXX

"So did you guys talk about anything last night?" I asked Carlos wanting to know about their talk.

"Yeah" he sighed. "He asked me of my intentions, when my contract was ending and what would happen to me if he saw a single tear in your eyes." Carlos recounted.

"And what were your answers?" I asked curious myself. Hey curiosity killed the cat, but she has nine more lives.

"My intentions are to keep you as happy as humanly possible and being your personal body-guard and sex slave. My contract ended two months ago, but I had a few loose ends which I tied up yesterday and he would have to stand in a long line to kick my ass if I ever make you sad. I'll be the first to kick myself."

"Wow. I think you used up all the words in your vocabulary just then." I said trying to lighten the mood.

He pulled me to his chest, wrapping an arm around my waist "Come on, let's go down"

XXXXXXXXX

Lula and Hank were having breakfast as we entered the kitchen. Their talking stopped when we entered.

"Morning angel" Hank greeted

"Morning. Did you sleep well?" I went over to hug him and left a kiss on his cheek. He stood up and enveloped me into his arms squeezing me.

"I did, better than I have in a while angel. I've missed you, you need to visit more often."

"I'm sorry I fell asleep on you last night."

"It's okay. You were tired from your trip." He let me go and motioned me to sit on the chair next to his. I sat down knowing the routine off by heart.

Hank spent the next fifteen minutes working his magic. He put a tall glass of fresh orange juice, a plate of fresh baked bread with jam and a plate piled with pancakes with whipped cream and honey. He then gave me the look. You know _the_ look, the one your mum gives you when you're not eating your veggies.

I just looked down and started working on the food in front of me. Carlos made himself a bowl of oats and sat on the other side of me. I prefer my breakfast better than his.

Lula excused herself to go shower.

I waited till I knew the she was out of range and then turned to Hank.

"Are you going to train her?"

"Yes angel. I will. She's dedicated. But she's broken."

"I know she's been through a lot. Thank you for agreeing to train her, I'll owe you."

"Yes you do. My price is that you come live down here for at least two weeks."

I nodded. "I will, but not now. I have a lot on my plate right now. How about, in sixish months, I'll come down here. I'll probably need a break from my work by then." I suggested.

He smiled and nodded. "So what kind of work is this?" he asked

"I'm opening a restaurant. I have the land, just need to do some renovations, it should be ready in about a month." Carlos looked slightly surprised at that. With all the things that had been going on I'd forgotten to tell him about it.

"I'm happy for you angel." He gave me another hug.

"Hank, I have another favour to ask of you" He raised one eyebrow. Can everyone but me do that?

"Will you stand for me?" His eyes widened as he realised what I was asking of him.

I swear I saw some moisture in his eyes. But that can't be right, bid bad-ass, tough as nails, ex-military men don't do tears. I need to get my eyes checked.

"Yes angel, I will stand up for you."

Then he turned and glared at Carlos "You better treat her right or your ass is grass." Carlos smiled and nodded, I punched him in the shoulder.

"I'm a big girl."

"No you are my baby."

I looked up to glare at him. "Am not"

"Are too"

"Am not"

"Are too"

"Not"

"Are"

"Ugh!" I stood up to stomp out of the kitchen, but Hank was quicker than me. He picked me up and walked through the living room to his swimming pool. I was screaming and struggling, threatening his life. I was plunged into the pool, the cool water hitting my shin instantly. I came up gasping for air.

Carlos, who had been watching the events, amused had come up behind Hank, who as laughing loudly and pushed him into the water. Now Carlos was laughing loudly.

Then he too was pushed into the water by Lula. Apparently she was done with her shower

The three of us glared at each other for a while, before I decided to splash Hank. Then we were just splashing each other. My shirt was soaked, but I was wearing underwear underneath, so I took my clothes off, leaving my bra and panties on.

I turned around to realise that Carlos was watching me. I grinned at him. Hank was doing laps, I decided to join him. An hour later we got of the pool and decided to get dressed.

We spent the rest of the day just lounging around the house, talking and laughing. Carlos and Hank had warmed up to each other. Lula and I caught up on the gossip I'd missed out on the last couple of weeks.

XXXXXXXXX

The next day we went to the court. I was wearing an ivory dress and Carlos was wearing a blue tux. We had Lula and hank as our witnesses. Half an hour later, I was Stephanie Manoso.

Hey people. I think this is the end, I'm not sure if I'm going to write anymore on this story. Maybe a sequel to show Lula's progress…

I have a fanfic I'm looking for but I don't remember the title. Steph tells Ranger that she wants a relationship, but ranger says that he can't. So then Steph's out on a date with a guy and he's a cook. She tells him that she's in love with Ranger and they come up with a plan to make ranger jealous. Ranger freaks out when he's in her parking lot waiting for the chef guy to leave, he thinks the he's too late and Steph's moving on. They live happily ever after.

Please let me know the title.


End file.
